Sasano Family Residence (Gobo)

The Sasano Family Residence and its layout

The Sasano Family Residence (笹野家住宅, Sasano-ke Jūtaku) is a private estate in the Shinmachi district of Sono, Gobo City, Wakayama Prefecture, laid out between the end of the Taishō era and the early Shōwa period, and its main house, detached room, storehouse, and front gate and wall were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2018.

The estate lies in the southwest part of central Gobo. The Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education places it about 150 m east of Kotake Hachiman Shrine, the guardian shrine of Gobo. The main house stands in the middle of the plot facing north. In front of it, on the street, is the storehouse, and beside that the front gate is set slightly back from the road, with walls running out to either side. The detached room sits southwest of the main house and is joined to it by a corridor.

Seen that way, the Sasano Family Residence falls into three layers. The storehouse, gate and wall give the house its street face; the main house stands behind them; and the detached room is tucked away at the back.

History of the Sasano Family Residence

According to the prefectural board, the Sasano family once brewed sake in Inahara, in the town of Inami next to Gobo. Their premises were damaged in the great Ansei earthquake of 1854, and the family is said to have moved to the present site during the Taishō era.

The current estate is said to have taken about 5 years to build, beginning at the end of the Taishō era, and was probably finished in the early Shōwa period. The main house, storehouse, and front gate and wall were built new, while the detached room was taken down at the old Inami property and rebuilt here. The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates the detached room to the early Meiji period (1868 to 1882) and its relocation to the early Shōwa period.

The estate therefore has two dates. Three of the registered structures are early Shōwa work (1926 to 1945), and the detached room is about half a century older. It is the only one of the four that came with the family from Inami.

The four registered structures

All four structures of the Sasano Family Residence were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on May 10, 2018, under consecutive numbers 30-234 to 30-237. The main house and detached room were registered as models of design, and the storehouse and the front gate and wall for their contribution to the historic landscape.

• Sasano Family Residence Main House: early Shōwa period, 2-story wooden building, tiled roof, building area 282 square meters
• Sasano Family Residence Detached Room: early Meiji period, relocated in the early Shōwa period, 1-story wooden building, tiled roof, building area 80 square meters
• Sasano Family Residence Storehouse: early Shōwa period, 2-story Dozo-zukuri storehouse, tiled roof, building area 24 square meters
• Sasano Family Residence Front Gate and Wall: early Shōwa period; the gate is 2 m wide and the wall runs 14 m in total

The prefectural board singles out how well the whole early Shōwa estate has been kept, and counts the Sasano Family Residence among the finest modern Japanese-style houses in Gobo. It also credits the dignified street frontage with a large part in the historic look of the town.

Visiting the Sasano Family Residence

The Sasano Family Residence is a private home, and we found no notice of the interior or grounds being opened to visitors. Expect to see only the street frontage formed by the storehouse, gate and wall. Please do not go through the gate, and keep photographs to the exterior from the road.

The house is on a street in Shinmachi, Sono. The nearest station is Nishi-Gobo, the terminus of the Kishu Railway, about 300 m away in a straight line by map coordinates. The Kishu Railway starts at JR Gobo Station on the Kinokuni Line. Trains are infrequent, so check the timetable before you go.

Walk east from Kotake Hachiman Shrine and look for a storehouse with Namako-kabe tiled walls on the street, with a gate standing a little back beside it. That is the Sasano Family Residence.